For some, online high school seems almost too good to be true. After all, you get to stay at home, do classes when you want to do them, and you typically have more options. So there has to be a catch, right?
No, there isn’t a catch. But that doesn’t stop people from making up some negative reasons.
One common fear is that online high school looks bad when you’re applying to college or trying to find a job. People think it doesn’t count. Or it does count but doesn’t look as good as a normal high school would.
Because of the fear and speculation, we would like to take a moment to set the record straight.
Does Online High School Look Bad to Colleges?
No.
Does Online High School Look Bad to Employers?
No.
What Colleges Actually Look At
The thing they care about first and foremost is grades. If you get good grades, regardless of where you attended, colleges are very pleased. They may also look at what classes you took and how many classes you took.
Did you take the easiest classes available? Or did you take challenging and thought provoking classes? Also, did you take the bare minimum required to graduate, or did you add some extra classes into the mix?
Finally, they will look at extracurricular activities. Just because you’re attending an online high school doesn’t mean you can’t be involved in the local community.
What Employers Look At
Employers look at your previous work experience. That’s typically the most important thing across the board. As far as high school goes, as long as you have a diploma or GED, that’s good enough for jobs that don’t require a college degree.
Make Sure Your School is Accredited
That’s the thing that matters most for online high schools (or any school really). They must be accredited or their diploma isn’t really worth the paper it’s printed on. Being accredited basically means the government has reviewed them and approves of them as a source of education.
And yes, Excel is fully accredited so a degree from us is as good as gold.
